Universal ignition contact set



Jan. 10, 1967 o. H. THOMAS UNIVERSAL IGNITION CONTACT SET 'Filed Feb. 4, 1965 FIG. -I

INVENTOR ORRIN H. THOMAS FIG.6

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,297,837 UNIVERSAL IGNITIGN CONTACT SET Orrin H. Thomas, R0. Box 498, Mann Hill Road, Tioga, Pa. 16946 Filed Feb. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 430,270 6 Claims. (Cl. 20030) This invention relates to an ignition timer or contact set for internal combustion engines and more particularly to a universal ignition contact set that will fit various makes and types of engines such as engines for different makes and models of vehicles.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an ignition contact set that can be supplied as original equipment with new equipment such as new automotive vehicles or else the present invention can be used as a replacement item on existing or used engines, and wherein the present invention is constructed so that it can be conveniently and efficiently positioned within the distributor housing of any type or model engine, and wherein there is provided a magnetic holding means for maintaining the device stationary and immobile in its proper adjusted location.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an ignition timer or contact set that is of a universal construction so that it can be used on and with various types of internal combustion engines such as vehicle engines or the like, and wherein the present invention will thereby eliminate the necessity of keeping in stock a plurality of different types of ignition timers because the universal timer of the present invention will fit various different types of engines or distributors and will function efficiently thereon.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a universal magnetic ignition contact set for convenient mounting and positioning within the distributor housing of an internal combustion engine, and wherein there is provided a means for adjusting the gapor space between the contacts and whereby after this gap or space has been adjusted, a locking means can be tightened to hold the parts immobile in their desired position, and wherein the magnetic holding means may consist of one or more permanent magnets for coaction and engagement with the base plate of the engine distributor.

A still further object is to provide an ignition contact set of the type stated that is economical to manufacture and efiicient in operation, and which is rugged in structure and fool-proofin use.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification and claims, together with the accompanying drawing, wherein like parts are referred to and indicated by like reference characters and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through a distributor housing and illustrating one application of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is-a sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the breaker point assembly taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 illustrates a modification of the device.

Referring in detail to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURES 1 through 5 of the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates a conventional distributor for an internal combustion engine such as a vehicular or automotive engine and the distributor 10 includes the usual housing 11 that embodies a bottom portion 12, closure cap 13, and rotor shaft 14. There is further provided a contact rotor 15 that is connected to the shaft 14, and the rotor 15 is adapted to selectively engage contacts 16 that are associated with respective spark plugs of an engine, and the numeral 17 indicates a contact that is electrically connected to the primary of an ignition coil. As shown in FIGURE 1, the contacts 16 and 17 are mounted in the closure cap 13. There is also provided a base plate 18 that is arranged within the housing 11, and the plate 18 has an opening 19 for the projection therethrough of the shaft 14, and the numeral 20 indicates a cam that is mounted on the shaft 14, and the multi-faced cam 29 has a plurality of high points 21.

The numeral 22 indicates the ignition timer or universal ignition contact set of the present invention which comprises a hollow casing or housing 23 that may have its lower portion recessed as at 24, FIGURE 3, to receive a permanent magnet 25 therein, and the magnet 25 may be secured to the casing 23 in any suitable manner. The magnet 25 is adapted to engage the base plate 18 of the distributor housing so as to maintain the device 22 immobile in its proper location. A closure 26 is detachably connected to the upper portion of the casing 23. As shown in FIGURE 3 for example there is provide-d a pair of diametrically opposed support pieces or bearings 27 and 28 that are suitably supported by the casing 23, and a bar or shaft 29 is slidably or shiftably supported by the pair of support pieces 27 and 28. The bar 29 may be semicircular in cross section as shown in FIGURE 4 and this construction permits the bar 29 to slide back and forth through suitable openings or slots in the support pieces 27 and 28 but prevents the horizontally disposed bar 29 from inadvertently turning or moving from its properly aligned position. A tip 30 made of a suitable material such as nylon is suitably affixed to an outer end portion of the bar 29 and the tip 30 can move back and forth between the solid and dotted line positions illustrated in FIGURE 3 to thereby cause corresponding shifting or sliding movement of the bar 29, and the tip 30 is arranged in engagement with cam 20 as for example as shown in FIGURE 2.

A shoulder element 31 is secured to or formed integral with the bar 29 and the shoulder element is positioned within the casing 23 and has a contact 32 secured thereto or formed integral therewith. The contact 32 is mounted for movement into and out of engagement with a contact 33 that is secured to the inner end of a stud or adjustable securing element 34, and the securing element 34 has a locking fastener or nut 35 associated therewith. Thus, by loosening the fastener 35, the element 34 can be readily rotated or adjusted so that the position of the contact 33 can be adjusted or changed as desired or required whereby the gap or space between the contacts 32 and 33 can be varied as desired, and then after the parts are located in the proper position, the fastener 35 can be tightened in order to maintain these parts in their proper location. As shown in FIGURE 3, there is provided a resilient means or coil spring 36 that is circumposed on the bar 29 in abutting relationship with the shoulder 31 and the coil spring 36 serves to bias or urge the parts such as the bar, shoulder and contact 32 into their proper direction or position, as later described in this application. In FIGURE 2, the numeral 37 indicates a condense-r that is adapted to be electrically connected to an end of the bar 29 as for example by means of a conductor 33.

Attention is now directed to FIGURE 6 of the drawings wherein there is illustrated a modified timer or contact set that is indicated generally by the numeral 22 and the device 22 has generally the same construction and function as the previously described device 22. The

' models for engines of automotive vehicles.

device 22 includes a casing 23' that is arranged above and afiixed to a mounting base or member 39. Instead of using a single magnet 25 as is used and shown in FIGURES 1 through 5, a plurality of magnets 46 are shown being used, and these magnets 40 are adapted to be suitably secured to the lower surface of the mounting member 39, and these permanent magnets 40 are arranged in engagement with the base plate 18 of the distributor housing in order to maintain the device 22 immobile in its proper location. The mounting member 39 has an upstanding flange or skirt portion 41 which is adapted to surround the lower portion of the casing 23', and a bolt or securing element 42 extends through a portion of the flange 41 for engagement and co-action with a grooved portion 43 in the lower section of the casing 23. This construction permits the element 42 to be loosened whereby the casing 23 can then be rotated or swivelled in the flange portion 41 to its desired and proper location, and then after the casing and its associated parts have been properly aligned, the element 42 can be tightened in order to maintain the casing 23 locked in position on the mounting member 39.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there has been provided a universal ignition timer or contact set that will permit use thereof on various types or makes of internal combustion engines such as different types or With the present invention, the task of supply organizations maintaining a large supply of different types of timers to fit the various types of engines will be substantially eliminated because the timer of the present invention is constructed so that it will fit and work with practically any type of distributor that is currently available.

As shown in FIGURES 1 through 5, the timer 22 is adapted to be positioned within the distributor housing 11, and the magnet 25 engages the plate 18 to maintain the device stationary in its proper aligned location within the distributor housing. The contact 33 is adapted to be electrically grounded to the vehicle battery through the metal element 34, metallic casing 23, magnet 25, and plate 18. Thus, as the shaft 14 is rotated in the usual manner, the cam 20 is turned so that the high points 21 of the cam engage and abut the tip 30 to reciprocate the bar 29 in the stationary support pieces 27 and 28. As the bar 29 is moved back and forth, the shoulder 3-1 is likewise moved and because the contact 32 is carried by the shoulder 31, it will be seen that this movement will result in continuous making and breaking of the electrical circuit because the contact 32 will alternately move into and out of engagement with the contact 33. The contact 32, shoulder 31, and bar 29 are made of electrically conductive material. As stated previously, the fastener 35 can be loosened to permit adjustment of the element 34 so that the position of the contact 33 relative to the contact 32 can be adjusted as desired or required, and then the fastener 35 is adapted to be tightened in order to maintain the parts immobile in their adjusted position, and this arrangement therefore provides a means for varying or adjusting the gap or space between the contacts 32 and 33. The magnet 25 is of sufiicient strength to maintain the device in position Within the housing.

The timer 22' of FIGURE 6 is shown provided with a pair of permanent magnets 40 instead of the single magnet previously described. In addition, the construction :shown in FIGURE 6 permits the casing 23' to be swiveled or turned on its base 39 in order to facilitate alignment of the parts such as alignment of the bar 29 and tip 30 with the cam 20 of the rotor shaft 14. Otherwise the construction and function of the device of FIGURE 6 is substantially the'same as that shown in FIGURES 1 through 5.

The parts can be made of any suitable material and in different. shapes and sizes as desired or required.

The universal magnetic ignition contact set of the present invention is adapted to .be conveniently merchandised in various types of establishments such as automotive service stations, supermarkets, drug stores and the like, and the devices can be conveniently packaged for sale to consumers with maximum efiiciency because it is not necessary for such establishments to stock a great number of difierent types of timers that are ordinarily needed for different makes and models of vehicles inasmuch as the present invention will serve the purpose for practically all of these different makes and models of vehicles or other members that use a distributor as part of the electrical ignition system.

The device can be readily aligned when installed in the distributor housing, and due to the magnetic holding means, no special hardware is needed to mount and support the device.

With further reference to the drawings such as FIG- URE 3 of the drawings, it is to be noted that the coil spring 36 is arranged so that the parts such as the contact 32 will be biased or urged in the proper direction and this spring arrangement in conjunction with the tip 30 that is moved by the cam 20 causes the contact 32 to move into and out of engagement with the contact 33 in the necessary manner in order to properly control operation of the ignition system, spark plugs and the like.

Minor changes in shape, size and rearrangement of details coming Within the field of invention may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

What is claimed is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a timer comprising a body having a base plate and having a rotor shaft extending through said base plate and including a casing providing a support, a bar slidably supported by said casing, resilient means biasing said bar toward a first position, an adjustable securing element connected to said casing and having a contact thereon selectively engaging a contact that is carried by the bar, a tip on an end of said bar engaging a cam mounted on said rotor shaft, and a magnetic holding means mounted on the lower portion of said casing engaging said base plate and maintaining said casing in a fixed, preselected position relative to said cam.

2. T he structure as defined in claim 1 and wherein said resilient means comprises a coil spring that is circumposed on said bar.

3. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said magnetic holding means comprises at least one permanent magnet for engagement with a base plate of a distributor housing.

4. In a universal ignition timer comprising a body having a base plate and having a rotor shaft extending through said base plate, supported within said casing, resilient means including a coil spring circumposed on said bar, a contact mounted on said bar, an adjustable securing element connected to said casing and having a contact thereon selectively engaging the first named contact, a tip on an end of said bar engaging a cam mounted on said rotor shaft, and a magnetic holding means connected to the bottom of said casing, said magnetic holding means comprising at least one permanent magnet engaging with said base plate of a distributor housing and maintaining said casing in a fixed, predetermined position relative to said cam.

5. In a device of the character described, a distributor including a housing, a rotor shaft having a contact rotor connected thereto, contacts in the upper portion of the housing for selective engagement by said rotor, and said contiactsadapted to be operatively connected to respecignition contact set comprising a hollow casing having a recessed lower portion, at least one permanent magnet in said recessed portion engaging with said base plate, a closure detachably connected to the upper end of said casing, diametrically opposed support pieces mounted in said casing, a horizontally disposed bar slidably mounted in said support pieces, a tip on an end of said bar, a multifaced cam on said shaft engaging co-acting with said tip, a shoulder element on said bar, a coil spring circumposed on said bar and said coil spring abutting said shoulder element, a first contact connected to said shoulder element, an adjustable securing element operatively connected to said casing and having a second contact on its inner end for engagement by said first contact, and a locking fastener cooperating with said adjustable securing element.

6. A distributor comprising a 'body having a base and a rotor shaft extending through the base and including a universal magnetic contact set comprising a hollow casing having at least one permanent magnet connected to the lower portion thereof, said magnet engaging said base and maintaining said casing in a fixed, predetermined position relative to said rotor shaft, a closure detachably connected to the upper end of said casing, spaced apart support pieces mounted in said casing, a bar slid-ably supported by said pieces, a tip on an end of said bar, a shoulder element connected to said bar, a coil spring mounted on said bar and engaging said shoulder element, a first contact connected to said shoulder element, an adjustable securing element mounted in said casing and having a second contact thereon for selective engagement by said first contact, and a locking fastener for said adjustable securing element.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,431,453 10/1922 Balluff 20020 1,555,548 9/1925 Brown et al. 200 2,814,682 10/1957 Russell 2003O 3,055,992 9/1962 Sargis 200-30 BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner. H. M. FLECK, G. J. MAIER, Assistant Examiners. 

1. AS A NEW ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE, A TIMER COMPRISING A BODY HAVING A BASE PLATE AND HAVING A ROTOR SHAFT EXTENDING THROUGH SAID BASE PLATE AND INCLUDING A CASING PROVIDING A SUPPORT, A BAR SLIDABLY SUPPORTED BY SAID CASING, RESILIENT MEANS BIASING SAID BAR TOWARD A FIRST POSITION, AN ADJUSTABLE SECURING ELEMENT CONNECTED TO SAID CASING AND HAVING A CONTACT THEREON SELECTIVELY ENGAGING A CONTACT THAT IS CARRIED BY THE BAR, A TIP ON AN END OF SAID BAR ENGAGING A CAM MOUNTED ON SAID ROTOR SHAFT, AND A MAGNETIC HOLDING MEANS MOUNTED ON THE LOWER PORTION OF SAID CASING ENGAGING SAID BASE PLATE AND MAINTAINING SAID CASING IN A FIXED, PRESELECTED POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID CAM. 